Dave Chappelle responds: I ‘didn’t kill affordable housing’ in Ohio

Comedian Dave Chappelle found himself in hot water once again Monday night after he was seen opposing an affordable housing project in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

Chappelle, 48, addressed the town council and threatened to pull his money from the community if they approved plans to develop 53 acres of residential housing.

The town voted on the plan Wednesday after the council meeting, where the public was invited to comment on the proposal. 

Now, Chappelle is clearing things up. His reps didn’t respond to The Post’s request for comment, but in a statement to Fox News, his spokeswoman Carla Sims said the plan itself needed improvements.

“Dave Chappelle didn’t kill affordable housing,” Sims said. “Concerned residents and a responding Village Council ‘killed’ a half-baked plan which never actually offered affordable housing.”

In the viral clip, Chappelle, who lives in the town, can be heard calling local politicians “clowns.” 

He told the council, in no uncertain terms, that he would pull his own business ventures —  a planned restaurant and comedy club called the Firehouse Eatery — out of Yellow Springs.

“I don’t know why the council would be afraid of litigation from a $24 million-a-year company while it’s out a $65 million-a-year company,” Chappelle told the Yellow Springs Village Council. “I cannot believe you would make me audition for you.”

After Chappelle and other residents railed against the proposal, the Ohio village only approved part of the development and rejected a part of the plan that included affordable housing.

However the clip of Chappelle delivering his controversial ultimatum made the rounds on social media, with critics saying the comedian was using his star power to quash affordable housing options in his community. It comes on the heels of a separate controversy involving comments he made in his Netflix special about the trans community.

“Neither Dave nor his neighbors are against affordable housing, however, they are against the poorly vetted, cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development deal which has little regard for the community, culture and infrastructure of the Village,” Sims added.

“The whole development deal, cloaked as an affordable housing plan, is anything but affordable. Three out of 143 lots would have been for ‘future’ affordable housing. The rest of the homes were to be priced between $250K and upwards of $600K. In Yellow Springs, and in many other places, that is not considered affordable housing. Instead, it’s an accelerant on the homogenization of Yellow Springs.”

According to the Dayton Daily News, the proposed development involved more than 100 single-family homes with prices ranging from $250,000 to $600,000. A second option would involve 64 single-family homes, 52 duplexes and 24 townhomes with 1.75 acres set aside for affordable housing to be built at a later date.

Meanwhile, Max Crome, an adviser to Chappelle’s Iron Table Holdings, told Fox News in a statement that he does not believe the developers properly engaged with the community before making their proposal.

“In the rush for approval, they limited their outreach and failed to engage the community-at-large in the input process,” he wrote. “Additionally, the developer’s product and generic approach to building does not allow for the flexibility to address the particular needs of our Village. Perhaps public meetings, design creativity and a willingness to listen will provide them with valuable insights for how to get it right in Yellow Springs.”